"In the next few days I will speak with the Russian Minister Lavrov ". This was announced by the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken . This is the first contact between the two heads of US and Russian diplomacy since the beginning of the war in Ukraine.
An interview where various issues will be addressed, from US prisoners in Russia to the recent agreement for the unblocking of Ukrainian grain exports from mined ports.
Meanwhile, the fighting continues. In the Russian-occupied Kherson region of southern Ukraine, new attacks by Ukrainian forces on the strategic Antonivskiy Bridge, which crosses the Dnieper River, have been reported .
"Explosions in the Antonivskiy bridge area," the Ukrainian military announced in an update on Telegram just before midnight, along with a video that would show a barrage of shots. "We reportedly have another heavy Ukrainian attack on the Antonivskiy bridge," reads a tweet from Illia Ponomarenko, a journalist for the Kviv Independent.
Russian officials then confirmed the Ukrainian attack on the bridge.
Antonivskiy Bridge is the main supply route for Russian troops : if damaged, Moscow forces would potentially be trapped in Kherson with little ammunition and few supplies. Part of Ukraine's plan to retake the city.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky took stock of the Ukrainian resistance: "For four months the Russian state has not provided its citizens with any information, not even censored, on the losses of its occupation contingent - said Zelensky in a video message -. However , this number is already nearly 40,000 - so many people that the Russian army has lost since February 24. And tens of thousands more have been injured and maimed. "
Zelensky himself stressed that the weapons supplied to Kiev by the West and in particular by the US "are changing the course of the war".
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Here are the updates by the hour.
Lithuania bans the entry of Patriarch Kirill until 2027
Lithuania has decided to ban the entry into the country of the patriarch of Moscow Kirill: this was reported by Novaya Gazeta Europa and the Russian state news agency Tass, citing in turn the newspaper Delphi. "Patriarch Kirill, Vladimir Putin's closest ally, is one of the most active supporters of the war against Ukraine, has repeatedly spoken positively in public about the ongoing Russian aggression," the Lithuanian Interior Ministry said. in a note according to Novaya Gazeta Europa. The head of the Russian Orthodox Church would have been included in Lithuania's list of undesirable people as early as June 23, and the ban is expected to remain in effect until June 23, 2027.
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Kiev: "Ukrainian ports are back to work"
Ukrainian ports "go back to work". This was stated by the Ukrainian Navy on the day in which the center for the coordination of operations opens in Istanbul to allow the safe passage of Ukrainian ships in the Black Sea after the agreement between Kiev, Moscow and the UN with the mediation of Turkey.
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Moscow: "Export of Russian agricultural products or stop the wheat agreement"
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Rudenko said that the Turkish-brokered agreement to unblock Ukrainian grain exports to the Black Sea could collapse "if obstacles to Russia's agricultural exports are not promptly removed". Interfax reports it. Rudenko said grain shipments from Ukraine will start soon and hopes the deal will remain valid.
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Kiev claims: "Bridge hit in Kherson"
"You can call the Antonivs'ky bridge an air defense device that intercepts all Ukrainian missiles, but you can't escape reality: the occupants should learn to swim across the Dnipro River. Or they should leave Kherson while it is still possible. There may not be a third caveat. " So Mykhailo Podoliak, advisor to Ukrainian President Voldymyr Zelensky, claims on Twitter the attack on the main bridge in Kherson.
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Zelensky: "Russia has already lost almost 40 thousand soldiers"
Since the start of the war in Ukraine, Russia has lost nearly 40,000 soldiers, according to Ukrainian President Volodymir Zelensky. "For four months the Russian state has not provided its citizens with any information, not even censored, on the losses of its occupation contingent - said Zelensky last night in his usual video message -. However, this number is already almost 40,000: many people that the Russian army has lost since February 24. And tens of thousands more have been injured and maimed. "
(Unioneonline)